N. Korea Fires Short-Range Missiles, South Says 'Provocative'

Mar. 3, 2014 - 02:13PM
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The replica of North Korean Scud-B missile, right, and a South Korean Nike missile stand side-by-side March 3 at the Korean War Memorial against the background of Mount Namsan in Seoul. North Korea fired short-range missiles into the sea off its eastern coast for the second time in a week March 3, prompting a warning from South Korea of 'reckless provocation.' (Jung Yeon-je / Getty Images)

Last year they coincided with a sharp and unusually protracted surge in military tensions, that saw North Korea issuing apocalyptic threats of preemptive nuclear strikes.

By contrast, this year’s drills began as relations between Seoul and Pyongyang were enjoying something of a thaw.

They overlapped with the end of the first reunion for more than three years of families divided by the Korean War — an event that raised hopes of greater cross-border cooperation.

Pyongyang had initially insisted that the joint exercises be postponed until after the reunions finished. But Seoul refused and — in a rare concession — the North allowed the family gatherings on its territory to go ahead as scheduled.

Most analysts believe the missile tests reflect Pyongyang’s need to flex its muscles in the wake of the reunion compromise.

Last week also saw an incursion by a North Korean patrol boat across the disputed Yellow Sea border that has been the scene of brief but bloody naval clashes in the past.

No shots were fired and the vessel retreated to its side of the boundary after repeated warnings from the South Korean navy.

From Monday, South Korea launched a two-day live-fire exercise involving an army artillery, naval ships and jet fighters to test their readiness against a North Korean incursion off the east coast, the South’s defense ministry said.

It declined to confirm a Yonhap news agency report that the exercise also involved drones, multiple rocket launchers and various other weapons.

North Korea has hundreds of short-range missiles and has developed and tested — with limited success — several intermediate-range models.

Its claims to have a working inter-continental ballistic missile have been treated with skepticism by most experts, but there is no doubt that it is pushing ahead with an active, ambitious missile development program.